#I want characters to stop dying as redemption make them work for it

[smolbean-17]

Hunter is probably going to die this season.

You know I’ve theorized this if you’ve been following me since Season 1. As the season keeps rolling out, the more and more I really do think this will happen.

We know that the ending will be bittersweet, and we know that the emotions behind the ending has a lot to do with fatherhood in particular (according to DBB)

They are putting a huge emphasis on Crosshair and Omega’s relationship. Particularly how he could fill a paternal role for her. Omega mirroring Crosshair is a huge sign to not only us as the audience, but to Hunter as well, that Crosshair can (and will) become a father figure to her. They didn’t have to show us that Hunter noticed Omega mimicking Crosshair. But they did. They’re masterfully crafting that something is going on in Hunter’s head. He’s thinking about Crosshair and Omega’s relationship, and what that could mean.

Crosshair still has a long way to go in regards to his guilt. They could easily have him sacrifice himself at the end to ultimately quell all of his guilt, but I believe that they’re going the route of subverting everyone’s expectations. Crosshair could sacrifice himself for full redemption (like they do with most Star Wars characters) and he probably would given the chance. But story wise, he doesn’t really need to.

If they were planning to go that route, he wouldn’t have been reintroduced to and accepted by the group so early on in the season.

They are actively showing Crosshair paving the way to his redemption. He’s putting in the work. He is protective, helpful, and actively putting himself in danger for the benefit of his family. He’s redeeming himself already. Him dying isn’t necessary to resolve his story. In fact, I think it would diminish the power behind his change. People can make bad decisions. They can hurt others. They can change. And they can live to see happier days. That is hope. And that is always the overarching theme of Star Wars.

Hunter, on the other hand, has been incredibly uncertain and indecisive throughout the entire show. Where Crosshair knows and acts on his decisions, whether good or bad, Hunter has been unsure of himself and his role in everything. His path is way less cut and dry. It almost feels like, in many ways, he has lost his leadership. And he feels it. He regrets his decisions. He probably blames himself for everything bad that has happened. He clearly doesn’t fully trust himself to keep his family safe.

How can his story be resolved, short of him simply finally deciding to take a stand and fight for the other clones?

By giving up his life for his family, for a cause he never wanted to be a part of, as a leader should. So they can go on and live the life he so desperately wants for them.

I don’t think at this point in the story Hunter would allow anyone else to sacrifice themselves. He would stop it from happening. He’s learned from his mistakes.

My theory is that we will see more and more instances of Hunter recognizing Omega’s growing relationships with others, especially Crosshair. And when the time finally comes, he’ll be able to let go of needing to be her primary protector. He’ll see the growth in her, and in his brothers, and finally trust that they’ll be okay. Whether he sacrifices himself or gets mortally injured in a fight/accident, he will be at peace.

I don’t know if his death will be ambiguous or unseen, like him dying in an explosion or something like that, or if it will be more obvious.

I could see him having a Fives-esque death. Where he can say goodbye to his family, and finally pass off the responsibility he held so close to his heart to Crosshair and his brothers.

And if Tech really is dead, he won’t have to be alone anymore.

They’d put Hunter’s helmet above his grave, the last real symbol of the Bad Batch, and a last goodbye to the Clone Wars (since his helmet resembles the regs’ helmets the most)

They’d leave Tech’s goggles on his grave (if Tech stays dead) along with Lula. Omega would leave a bouquet of flowers from Pabu. What a powerful image that would be.

Omega could then go on to lead her own little batch. She’s made the friends and connections to do so. Crosshair and the others wouldn’t be too far behind.

It would be a touching resolution to Hunter’s and Crosshair’s and Omega’s arcs.

Other clues I think they’re dropping that support this theory:

-Omega’s new hair design. It’s perfect for her to wear Hunter’s bandana.

-Batcher joining the squad. She fills the tracking role.

-Crosshair’s increased screen time with Omega.

-Hunter’s increased desire to do whatever it takes to keep Omega safe, and the hints that he becomes reckless upon doing so.

-The Marauder exploding. Something about losing the home and the head of the home making for great storytelling.

-The idea of passing the torch of leadership to the next generation. From Clone Wars (TBB) to the new SW content (Omega)

-The fact that Jen Corbett said Hunter is her favorite character, and I’ve never known a female writer who doesn’t whump the hell out of their favorites the most (fr one of the most compelling arguments lol)

[theerurishipper]

Part 2 of my Paris special commentary (Part 1 here) because Tumblr is an ass and has a word limit.

Disclaimer: This is long asf.

Marinette here playing 5D chess, queen shit.

The most important thing the special confirmed is that Gabe added the word "dark" to his transformation phrase on purpose cause he's a dramatic bitch.

I am here for Claw Noir mocking Gabe. Go off, king.

"Oh nO, iT WAs aN IlLusIon!" That giggle is adorable. She's so cute.

Ladyfly is an ass name, but she looks so great.

Not Gabe getting annoyed at Claw Noir's teasing. See, now this is why we stan Claw Noir on this blog.

Gabe's plan isn't half bad, actually.

Symbolism? In my children's cartoon? It's more likely than you think.

They're having a pun-off.

RIP Chat Noir's ear.

Gabe got feathered lmao

Monarch dipped like a little bitch.

A mirror, I called it. It'll make for some nice symbolism.

"Let alone a calm and gentle mom" I wonder what Sabine is like in their world to make Emonette feel like she's so alone.

I like how they handled the villains tbh. I wasn't a fan of making it seem like Marinette was one step away from becoming a supervillain at all times, but it seems less like that's the case and more like The Supreme took advantage of her suffering and vulnerability at her lowest moments.

It's also nice that they established that Shady and Claw weren't the actual big bads and are just hurt kids who got recruited into a fight they weren't ready for. Their motivation isn't some rehash of Gabriel's, they are literally trying to survive under the rule of someone who will kill them if they don't do his bidding, and because of whom they're dying. Their life is literally full of suffering and they're trying to find something that'll give them a way out. Shady wants Marinette's life, and Claw Noir wants his mother back.

Like, it doesn't excuse their actions, but it does add a more humane element to them that lends itself better to the kind of redemption Miraculous likes to do, which is to fix things with a speech. That's why this redemption works, and Gabe's doesn't.

Anyway.

The back and forth between Chat Noir and Claw Noir was pretty funny ngl.

And we discover that Claw Noir wants his mother back. Of course.

MY POOR BABY

When Marinette was talking about how she was also angry and hurt, but chose to love herself and the world around her and chose to try and fix it... that hit hard. Honestly, it did. It's everything I love about Marinette in one speech. I love it.

And then onto my personal favorite scene in the entire special, possibly in the entire show.

That whole conversation was powerful. "I'm as well as I can be anyway," that's so profound. Like, of course you aren't going to be 100% okay after losing someone you love, but Adrien wants to move on and be happy like his mother would have wanted him to. This scene really showcases Adrien's empathy and his strength, when he acknowledges that having no friends can make it harder for Claw Noir to move on, and then he tells him that only he can make the choice to stop being alone. And that's really true. This scene really showcases everything amazing about Adrien, his hope and optimism, his empathy and his strength. How he finds the strength to keep going by choosing to not be alone. It's beautiful.

Like, it could have been so easy for both Marinette and Adrien to give into their darkest impulses, and Shadybug and Claw Noir really are just representations of how letting your hurt overpower you can lead you down a dark path, and it really highlights their strength, that they choose to make the right choices everyday, despite everything. It really highlights their characters and their arcs. And they're able to take everything they've learned, and look at what they could have been in the eyes and help them change too. It's so poetic.

It would have been a little more impactful if the show had spent more than 10 minutes out of 5 seasons focusing on Adrien's grief and how it has impacted him, but whatever.

Anyway, it also had some Adrien and Nino friendship crumbs, and I'll be darned if I didn't gobble it up like a starved animal. Also, we have confirmation that "Space Mutants vs. Ghost Shark" is Nino's favorite movie, so Nino stans please say "thank you Paris special."

And they are REDEEMED.

Shadybug fixes everything with her Lucky Charm after spending the whole special making destructive ones. My heart.

Shadybug and Claw Noir stop being evil and immediately go from hating each other's guts to flirting shamelessly. They just speedran enemies to lovers in a matter of seconds. They literally just defaulted to flirting. Truly, the natural state of Ladynoir in any universe. We stan.

Gotta be honest, I'm not a fan of the new designs. Wish they had kept the old ones. I'm one of those people whose toxic trait is liking Claw Noir's design, so I'm a little unhappy with it, but hey, it's a sweet scene.

Also, Claw Noir's hair went from the color of rotten bananas to ripe bananas. If that was intentional, I applaud the writers for being both profound and funny as hell.

Aaaaaaand Gabe is back, because we can't have nice things.

The montage going through different realities was great, it was small but I enjoyed it.

They're literally so cute omg. Couple behaviors fr. I'm so obsessed with them.

HUGS

POUND IT

They're holding hands... already... like they're in love... I'm so emotional... I WILL NEVER GET OVER THIS

And they're gone. But their adventures will continue forever in my mind and in my fanfics. And in other people's art that I will ravenously consume.

Cute Alya and Marinette scene. This is really sweet, I love the exploration of the impact Alya has had on Marinette's life.

And now, I'm not an Alyanette shipper, but I think they should kis- oh, wait, never mind, they did it.

And thus, the endless night comes to an end (it happened a while ago but that's just semantics).

Final thoughts

I really loved this so much. Sure, there were some exposition dumps that probably should have happened in the actual series, but that's not the fault of this special. This is probably my bias talking but this is the best special and it's literally perfect, no I will not take any constructive criticism on that. This, this special and everything in it, this is what Miraculous is all about. This is exactly what I wanted, this is what I signed up for. It's literally the best thing ever to come out of this entire show.

[avelera]

i agree with you and I don't like the Armand is alice theory. since Claudia died, we have 0 main female characters. This theory seems like an attempt to erase a minor female character who had an impact on a main male character life. Sometimes I felt like the iwtv fandom is hostile toward female characters. It also remind the fan that Daniel wasn't a good husband or a good father and a very flaw character who hurt a lot of women, not in a criminal way but he was surely an asshole. In fanfic, he doesn't have any flaw and is often victimize. The fan wants him to be a Marius hater, when himself forced a girl to put a paperbag on her head to have sex with her. She cried a lot but he didn't stop. I don't think he's aware of concept like "consent" or sexual assault. He was mostly a cheater with his wifes and an absent father to his daughters. And I feel like the fandom can't accept this so 1) they erased Alice 2) they made all his life about Armand when it wasn't. Because no matter how his life was, how he was a sexist asshole, it was the life he chose and Armand was a part of it but not the center. I like him, but not everything is about Armand and he's not Armand's savior or Armand's redemption or Armand's soulmate.

I think there's a lot of valid points in what you're saying!

I think fandoms in general have a tendency to polish off the rough edges of their favorite characters and Daniel is absolutely going to get this treatment by the fandom. It's pretty much inevitable but I don't blame people for doing it in their fanworks, that's just how fandom works.

I completely agree that a tendency to make Daniel's whole life about Armand would be a disservice to the character, especially Old Man Daniel who has lived a rich life on his own and if he had a relationship with Armand in the 70s, he's had half a lifetime or more since to live completely independent of Armand (perhaps thanks to Armand wiping his memory of that relationship, perhaps not). Regardless, it's a pretty common angle for fandom to take, especially when shipping two characters. The focus will be on the relationship and so the focus will be on making that relationship central to who they are often to the exclusion of all else. Certainly as maker/fledgling, these two ARE going to mean a lot to each other going forward too. But yeah I agree that erasing Alice or making Alice Armand is a denial of the long, independent and complicated life that Daniel lived completely without Armand.

But I also completely agree that Daniel was, canonically, not a good husband or father. He admits it himself. It's at the absolute core of who IWTV Show Daniel is. It's at the heart of his acerbic personality, his regrets, his terror at the thought of dying because he will be dying alone and unloved, and his relentless pursuit of the truth with Louis and Armand because he thinks the only thing valuable about himself that he has left is his skills as an investigative reporter. He has by his own admission fucked up every personal relationship he's had by being a complete asshole but that asshole flaw in his personal life was a virtue in his professional life. He is a relentless investigative reporter in part because he's a complete asshole. He wasn't able to shut that part of himself down when he was with his loved ones and that's why he has no one he loves in his life who wants to be around him, but he is still an award winning journalist. It's to me what makes him an interesting and complex character. If you polish that away, if you make him nice rather than a flawed man who is trying to do better (until maybe he's not, once he's a vampire) I'm not even sure why you'd be writing his character instead of an OC, it is what makes Bogosian's Daniel unique even as compared to the book version of the character.

The whole point of IWTV is that these characters are complex and they are ugly, they are monsters and they are human, and as Santiago says we should remember that when we put them on trial. This is a central theme of the show. This theme extends to Daniel too. Claudia is a victim of her horrible circumstances but she's also a bonafide serial killer of thousands of innocents. Louis is a soulful and tormented person who also murdered his way through the San Francisco gay population in the 70s as viciously as any epidemic. Madeleine was a collaborator during WWII and as much as we might debate how much of a choice she had in being one if she wanted to survive in WWII Paris, she was also completely unbothered by the idea of becoming a serial killer in order to gain immortality.

We are being asked by the show to hold the dichotomy of these characters in our heads, we are being asked to love them as humans and be horrified by them as monsters at the same time. Anyone who tries to polish the rough edges off these characters by having them be moral paragons is, I think, entirely missing the point of the gothic moral complexity of the show. No one is innocent, not even the interviewer. Daniel was an asshole to his loved ones. We can still feel for the fact he's afraid of dying, either to his chronic illness or to the vampires he's interviewing. That isn't something to be avoided by the viewer, that is the exact complexity we're being asked to engage with. Then again, fanworks serve a different purpose so people should do whatever they want with the characters there, this is just to say that the core story that I think is what attracted many people to IWTV is about moral complexity and it's a shame when that element is removed, at least when it comes to my personal enjoyment as I can't speak for others.

There are a couple things I disagree with though with what you said or want to address with a bit more nuance below the cut.

I don't think the fandom is hostile to women as such. I admit, I don't really know it well enough to say one way or another, but I'm always hesitant to apply such a sweeping criticism of a large group of people. M/M slash fandoms tend to focus on the male characters, it's just how it is. But IWTV gave us a beautiful f/f relationship with Claudia and Madeleine and I see a lot of appreciation of them and their relationship on my dash. Fact is, there's just not as many female characters as male characters in the Vampire Chronicles by at least 2:1. So naturally the fandom will focus on the male (and more importantly surviving) characters.

As for Marius, I don't think we have an answer about him yet within the show. What we have is that Louis called Marius Armand's pimp and we have show Armand telling us that Marius was his whole world but also that Marius prostituted him to visiting friends.

That is completely contrary to what we learn about Marius in "The Vampire Lestat" and "The Vampire Armand" books. If it's true, it's an invention of the show. Marius in the books specifically allowed Armand total autonomy in his sex life after he freed him from the brothel because he wanted Armand to have a full life before he became a vampire and Marius even then was very resistant to turning Armand or indulging in Armand's crush on him, and the only reason he turned him as young as he did was because Armand was dying. So until we get a more objective answer about what Marius and Armand's relationship was, not as it's told to us during a vicious fight between Louis and Armand or a very complex moment of self reflection tinged with bitterness, I am hesitant to say Marius is a villain in the way the fandom has decided he is.

However, if the show decides that based on Marius's actions in the book, the richer exploration in their reinterpretation of his character is that he had a highly questionable, even groomer relationship with Armand, I'd be all for it. It's a completely valid interpretation of the character in a reexamination of the text and one I trust these writers to bring a lot of complexity to. But I do think it's going to be more complicated than it appears based on the two mentions of Marius we've had so far because everything in the show has been more complex than it seems. Marius is 90% a protagonist in the book, he's one of the most universally beloved vampires in the entire vampire world for his wisdom, his humanity, his care for others, and for taking on the duty of caring for Akasha and Enkil when it was a very dangerous and tedious thing to do with little reward besides survival (and he was almost killed over it too multiple times). So it's a BIG change to make him a villain to a modern audience by making him Armand's abuser instead of his patron and inspiration (until they were cruelly separated) as he was in the books. I'm curious to see how they handle it once Marius is cast.

Now, how Daniel and Marius are going to interact is going to be based on the complexity of how we see Marius objectively in the show, outside of the flashbacks, in my opinion. I'm very curious to see how that turns out but again, remember these characters are monsters. I think assuming that Daniel's reaction to Marius will be 100% negative is premature.

And one more thing I disagree about is the idea that Daniel doesn't know what consent or sexual assault is (unless it was a typo and you were referring to him in the past, not in the present?).

I think Daniel has deep regrets about how he treated that girl when they were both teenagers, and he has deep regrets about how he treated his wives and his daughters. I believe he is haunted by these parts of himself. So I disagree with the characterization of him as being somehow unaware of consent or sexual assault. I believe that the incident with the girl when they were both teenagers was a particular shameful, ugly memory that Armand dug up specifically because it was an ugly, shameful memory of a time that Daniel was cruel and monstrous that he still feels shame about to this day. Armand dug it up not because it was something Daniel thinks is fine that he did, it's something that disgusts Daniel about himself.

But it's also, not to excuse it, but it's a story from when he was young and stupid, not a pattern of behavior we see coming up to the modern day. This is something that haunts him and that he's learned from. Old Daniel is a man who has been an asshole and who has learned a lot of lessons from it, mostly in that he gained many regrets in his life. But Old Man Daniel is introduced to us as someone who remains an investigative reporter because he wants to do some good for the world. It's the one thing he has to offer the world as he is dying. He views his job as a reporter as a sacred trust and we open with him talking about the ethics of investigative reporting. From that I think we can deduce that Daniel is very aware of consent and things like assault and just why what he did as a teenager was wrong. In his way, I think he sees being a reporter as him trying to be a good person.

[frooogscream]

Why Izzy’s death doesn’t work as Ed’s redemption 

This show that was so good before with avoiding overused tropes really did the “redemption arc for the antagonist just for him to heroically -well actually just without any point- die” trope, as a season finale, mind you! Just to give Ed a redemption free pass? 

Because if the character he arguably did the worst things to forgives him, then of course everybody else including the viewers also has to. And if Izzy says that actually it was all his fault/that he is the one who is sorry, well then obviously that also has to be true./s

-Sorry for what? What is this, 101 how to be the perfect abuse victim?!-

 “bUT iZzy SYmbøLiSEs êdS…..”- NO! Stop right there, that’s not how this works: “the kraken killed my dad”- does not take away Ed’s responsibility for killing his father. Him sinking his leather clothes to the bottom of the ocean to symbolically kill Blackbeard, how he is talking of “Ed” and “Blackbeard” as if they are two different people, the whole time Ed is pretending that the things he can’t face about him self are not actually part of him. This is obviously very unhealthy and I was sure that the storyline of the show would let him face these things and learn how to accept himself with all the good and the bad(!) he’s done.

But nope- the show seams to agree that projecting all his flaws onto something (in this case somebody) else is a legitimate solution and then immediately kills that character off, so Ed is redeemed with in seconds, without actually showing any character growth??! 

I am sorry but this just does not make sense! And I’m not even going into how you can use Ed clothes or the silk in S1 or a petrified orange as a symbol but not ACTUAL PEOPLE. 

And “you are surrounded by friends?” No Ed is actually quite right, Izzy at this point is his only friend (not saying that Izzy always was the most helpful or supportive friend, but he stood by him no matter what). The crew on the other hand clearly does not see Ed as a friend, rightfully so. He did nothing to rectify his actions towards them, hell he didn’t even apologize properly because clearly Stede wrote his apology speech (that’s why he doesn’t know what a fucking safe space ship is). So no character growth/ taking accountability on that front.

If Ed would have actually gotten just the tiniest bit of character growth, if he had actually faced that HE is the one who did these things, the least DJ could have shown us, is him saying that he is sorry too/disagreeing when Izzy, even now while dying, is taking the fault for Ed’s actions yet again.

But he doesn’t because he still believes “the kraken killed my dad, I didn’t kill them the fire did, Izzy made me cut of his body parts and become evil”.

This scene successfully ruined the complete character arcs my two favourite pirates supposedly were going through this season: Ed wanting to change and find out who he really is as well as completely undoing Izzy’s emancipation from him

[callias-w]

I really like Yuma's character, and I think so far, he's one of my favorite game protagonists.

I've only played up until chapter 2 of Raincode, when the peacekeepers appear, so I have no idea what happens next.

He's genuinly a good person. He goes around helping people who might need it, and feels frustrated/sad when he gets things wrong. Like when the nun of the church asks him if he can go listen to people's problems, he encounters this girl in a hoodie who is "happy". At first, I got the answer wrong, didn't think much of it, but then Yuma looked so upset for not have been able to help her, and I felt awful. He says something along the lines of "I don't think that's what she needed to hear… will she be ok?"

So obviously I had to retry. Yuma goes back, notices that something's going on with the woman, and asks her if something we cant see is hurting her. She tries to play it off, saying if she waits long enough, it'll go way. But Yuma insists, that she doesn't have to be alone, If she's scared she can go to the detective agency, that they'll help her, that there's no reason to do this alone. He says this with such conviction, and such genuine worry, scared for the woman's safety. And beceause im a sensitive bitch I almost fucking cried. I felt so relieved I retried that interaction. And Yuma looked calm.

He has the power to share, I believe. I play in spanish so idk what that power in named in english, but basically what happens is that if he holds hand with someone, he can share their power. It's pretty cool to be honest, but what that power entails is that he… can't do things alone. He needs people to also help him, and that makes him feel powerless aswell. Sure he can go around and help people for no reason but he can't bring himself to rely on others without feeling… useless. And he's so fucking real for that. He tries to fight these thoughts away, telling himself that he'll figure things out on his own, but… at the same time, he's using Shinigami's power, not his. What good is a detective, when he can't solve mysteries alone?

And so, his struggle of why he's a detective. Or why he wanted to be a detective so badly in the first place. To find justice, he tells himself, but a detective's goal isn't to impart justice. It's to find the truth. So Shinigami also imparts a kind of… justice. And eye for an eye, kind of justice, that Yuma despises. They're not only dying. You're killing them. And that's no difference from what Amaterasu corp is doing, since they're picking people and just executing them without a chance of redemption. Sure they're criminals, these people hiding the truth, but that… doesn't make them less human. And the only one that seems to notice this, is Yuma. Everyone else is so… out of touch. Halara for instance, they don't even flinch at the sight of a corpse, for them it's just another day at work. Desuhiko can't stand the sight of a corpse, but he's also terribly out of touch with humanity, like he isn't going around taking advantage of his skills to harrass women or fake anything.

Also he kinda sucks working on his own given he has no clue of what he's doing.

So yeah I like Yuma a lot. I'm hoping he resolves his internal struggles in the future and decides between this inhuman detective live, stops playing detective, or makes a path of his own.

[simplyender]

If it's asks you want, asks you shall get! I remember you mentioning that you think Spot will probably die in the next movie. However, Miles says something like "Spot only wants to be respected, like everyone else," before he gets interrupted by Miguel. Maybe this could hint at Spot making it out alive. Or this is just wishful thinking on my part. And if he really does die in the next movie, then it will be due to his own actions, like using up all his powers or smth like that.

tbh, my reasoning for spot dying can be boiled down to a few points. but first, i wanna talk about...

why i absolutely believe spot shouldnt be killed off.

1. the current narrative is that miles is effectively breaking the cycle that is "canon", giving a big 'ol Fuck You to whats defined as fate and inevitable pain. spots trying to force miles in to the narrative hes made up in his head (which coincides with whats meant to be "canon"), but things dont have to be that way and miles KNOWS that. i think itd be thematically appropriate if miles breaks this cycle of cruelty and allows spot to survive, making him have to face his own actions and crippling lack of self worth and actually work to make things better, for himself and everyone hes hurt.

2. im overly attached to spot being disability-coded, for more on that, please read this amazing post that opened my third eye. anyway, the tl;dr is that spot behaves and is treated a lot like a newly, visibly disabled person, subject to the same prejudices as they are as well as being forced to navigate an entirely new body, as somebody might have to if they were to receive a workplace injury that left them disfigured and permanently disabled. this is also why id like it if he doesnt get turned human again/"cured" at the end. it just doesnt feel like itd be satisfying for things to end like that for him. if anything, the most satisfying conclusion to his arc would if he got stopped, and then be given the opportunity to finally take responsibility for his own actions, and acknowledge his own fault in what happened to him and that it ultimately wasnt miles that did this to him and that even so, one of the things thats NOT spots fault is how he got treated for what happened to him so he really should get understanding and validation in that department. he also deserves to learn how to accept himself (beyond seeing his new form and powers as a tool to pursue revenge) as he is instead of it being framed likes hes only worthy of respect and recovery once he becomes human again.

3. i like him a lot and thinks he deserves better than to just be killed off.

why i think that despite it all, spot will be killed off:

1. any form of redemption or willingly giving up entirely depends on if spot can bring himself to listen to reason and take responsibility for his actions. something weve seen that hes notoriously bad at.

2. why would spot willingly choose to give up and back down when hes got absolutely nothing left for him in life? theres literally nobody waiting for him on the other side of this if he does. no family. no friends. no job. nothing. he might consider himself too far gone.

3. while 90s cartoon spot DID redeem himself, he did it through a heroic sacrifice...

4. lbr spiderman villains usually either get jailed or killed off. why would things be different for spot. because hes sympathetic? a lot of villains are. hes also insanely powerful and this could end up as a "destroys himself"" situation.

5. spot might be about to commit mass murder, which...definitely makes it harder to consider him as somebody "worthy of redemption".

6. ive watched so many of my favorite characters die. im not kidding i have the worst luck. 98% of them have been killed off and i think spot might be next in line bc its unlikely the writers care about him as much as i do. :(

so...yeah.

[frogletscribe]

A:FoP Sky Breaker DLC Thoughts P.2

Here's the other half of my thoughts on the Sky Breaker DLC, more focused on a specific aspect of the story and getting into the wider storytelling of the world of Pandora. A lot of this is me being very critical of Alma, so if you don't want to read about that, feel free to skip!

I'm also very open to other peoples opinions if someone disagrees!

Major Spoilers for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Sky Breaker DLC under the cut.

SO. The real meat and potatoes of the DLC (at least in terms of story) comes with the bits surrounding Mokasa and Alma.

Frankly, I was not thrilled that Alma was there. Ever since her Avatar was killed she has kind of become a walking pity party, and very few of her actions since have done her any favors.

In my own personal opinion, what she did/allowed to happen to the Sarentu is unforgivable. Full stop, I do not think she should have been invited to the Games. The rest of the humans? Cool, great, love them. Not her. I know that's harsh, but if Mokasa is (rightfully) being shunned by his clan, I think Alma should have gotten the same(obvi to a lesser extent, she would die immediately outside the safety of the resistance). But the general theme of the story, at least when it comes to Mokasa and Alma, is redemption.

I think that Mokasa gets as close as he can, dying to protect the Sarentu and Anufi. If someone had to die as a plot device, it makes sense that it was him. It doesn't make up for what he did, but it's something. 

I generally think killing off characters 'for redemption' is cheap and a little lazy, and this is no exception, but Mokasa's death I think tries to also serve as telling Alma that she needs to earn forgiveness.

Alma has an audio log you can find in the main camp talking about everything after the fact that I think does help her character a little, but I continue to not be thrilled with how she talks about the Sarentu. It's like she's clinging to them, trying to get them to accept her back, when as she says in her audio log afterwards, she is a chapter in their lives they would rather leave closed. Still, even as she says it, it doesn't feel like she accepts that, which on a personal level I get, no one wants to be rejected, but in this case, she just feels like she's still trying to take up space that no longer belongs to her, even though she knows she shouldn’t. 

Again, I'm being harsh with her character. I know that. I take issue with the fact that no matter what happens, she just doesn't seem to get that the fact that the Sarentu giving her anything but contempt for what she did, is already more than she deserves. They still talk to her, she still got to come to the games and have a relationship with the other Na'vi clans. She is in the Games tent among the Na'vi where all the other humans are sequestered away from the clans. That's more than what the Kame'tire gave Mokasa for doing the exact same thing as Alma did. Do I think she should have died? No. I don't think that serves anything, least of all her character. If 'redemption' is the goal, I think the simplest answer to Alma's story is to not give it to her. She can work as hard and as long as she wants, but she can never really be forgiven for what she did, and I think she needs to live with that.

I also think Alma could have easily been swapped out for Priya, Anqa or Alexander and I would have had 100% more emotional investment into saving one of them over her. But that's just me.

We also learned that the NeuroSect machine can and will kill the people they are used on. They're torture devices. A few people have pointed out how this changes things when it comes to Spider and Quaritch's story, but I also think this says something about how naive Jake still is when it comes to the RDA.

When Spider is taken, Jake keeps saying "he's human, they won't hurt him". But then Ardmore immediately puts Spider in a NeuroSect, a torture machine that is not intended to leave survivors, fully intending for Spider to die once she gets the info out of him that she needs. Jake probably thought that the RDA would see this teenage boy and just lock him up until further notice, because the idea of torturing a child is so insane, who would ever do that? Ardmore would. The RDA would. For the same reasons the RDA would slaughter an entire clan, steal its children, and raise them to be soldiers, or destroy known Spiritual and Cultural sites of the Na'vi, or blow up the Omatikayan Hometree. Despite being made up of humans, the RDA does not have humanity. The Na'vi and anyone/everyone associated with them, are not people to the RDA. Just enemies to be destroyed.

I do think it's also important/interesting to note that Alma was unable to resist the NeuroSect at all, basically giving Harding everything she wanted, while Spider is able to completely resist and gives Ardmore nothing.

The other thing we hear is that Alma has a way to contact Jake and Norm. I've seen a few people speculating whether or not that means Alma is actively in contact with Jake or not, but I don't think that's the case, at least as of right now. I don't think there is any official timeline for AFoP out there, and time jumps pretty sporadically? We hear that Alma and Anufi have been taken and then as soon as you get to the facility, RDA NPCs are talking about ‘the blue they grabbed last week’ even if you sprinted to that mission as fast as possible. So guessing a timeline is????? 

The most we get is early into the main game, there is banter between npcs at the resistance about the Train raid seen at the start of Atwow and later that Jake has effectively gone dark, so we know at that point he has taken his family to Awa'atlu. And we don't hear anything else about the Sully's or Norm until Harding questions Alma about them in the DLC. I think if Alma is actively in contact with anyone then it's probably Norm, but I don't think she is in contact with Jake at all.

We also already know that Alma hid the existence of TAP from Jake, so I doubt she has come clean about TAP and the Sarentu to anyone outside the immediate resistance. I think if she had then there would be evidence of it, either in logs or mentioned, bc i do not think Jake or Norm would take kindly to those revelations at all, and it feels important enough that it should come up if it does happen. I think there's a log somewhere in the main game where Alma basically admits that if Jake had known about TAP, then there was no way he would ever have let her stay on Pandora.

Overall I really liked the DLC, I like that the Sarentu are finally free (largely) of TAP, and that we got to see basically all the important NPCs that we met over the course of the main game (some more than others). I’m hoping that this will also largely be the end of the story revolving around Alma’s guilt, unless we get Norm/Jake/Max calling her out on hiding TAP from them, I'm just tired of her. If she needs to be a key player going forward, at least let her woe-is-me shit be finished and have her actually own up. If Nor comes back it will likely be a needed conversation.

[chocochipjewel]

Okay yall Bad Batch finale aires in just under 12 hours and I have some finale theories to talk about! Hopefully I'll be able to post at least some rough art after the finale where I talk about the show some more but for now final theories!

I think CX-2 is Cody, it's too late for it to be Tech and it would be delightfully tragic if Rex or someone (who I think is definitely showing up for the finale) kills CX-2 and unmasks him after the fact or something

I think Hemlock did retrieve Tech's body and I think he's one of the experimental CX units who have not been released yet. But I don't think it worked. I want his sacrifice to mean something, so I want him to stay dead (even if my heart wants otherwise 😭) maybe his body is found, maybe he's never seen again, but I don't think he's coming back

I'm pretty sure Rex and his group of renegade clones will make an appearance, and I hope Phee gets a final moment to be badass as well. Apart from that, I'm hoping for no more extra characters cluttering the episode cause we already have so many loose ends up tie up here

I wouldn't put it past Disney to end the clone rebellion storyline on a cliffhanger tbh but I so badlyyy wish it won't be that way. Let their story end here. It will be sad but you know what that's better than the finale just being a tease for a future show. Let all the Tantiss prisoners break out and branch out to live new lives and die naturally as they deserve.

Now... for the actual Bad Batch itself

I'm certain someone is going to die. No one they're all making it out, not after all the teases and death flags. This isn't going to be like Mando S3 where the characters retire on some field for the rest of their lives (that's just for my fix it headcanons ❤️)

As for who, I've gone back and forth on this but I'm not sure. Every remaining member of the 4 troopers we have here have enough death flags on them and I've read compelling theories for all possibilities, including ones where they get Rogue One'd and everyone dies 😭

So I guess I don't really have a theory for this. I'm certain someone is going to die and I'm honestly scared for who it will be but I don't have a specific person yet. I'm leaning towards Hunter or Crosshair cause their conflict and relationships with Omega make the heart of the show itself, but I wouldn't be surprised if Wrecker or Echo died instead, or any other combination of the team members

Only thing I'm mildly certain about is Omega surviving. Disney Star Wars doesn't like to kill kids much. She's not 100% clear but least likely from my perspective. Plus it would end the show on too sad a note if the character driving the entire plot so far dies 😭 I can see a possibility in which she dies to delay Project Necromancer indefinitely, and it would honestly be sad as hell, but that's just it, it would be way too sad. I don't think the show likes being that dark, especially for its finale. And frankly, Omega's arc deserves to end with her finally getting to stop running and just live her life on her own terms.

Hemlock is definitely getting eaten by the Zillo beast while it destroys Tantiss and Rampart is almost surely making it out and turning a new leaf in my eyes. He's not any less of an asshole but he might just go live somewhere away from the Empire and away from the Bad Batch too.

Emerie is an interesting case cause I can't tell if she'll get the redemption = death thing or she'll make it out too. I honestly have 0 predictions for her. I can see her dying to save the force sensitive kids, but I can also see her making it out.

The force sensitive kids, clone cadets, Batcher, and Phee are probably gonna make it out and you know what good for them. They'll probably be the emotional support for the remaining members of the Batch (if there are any) to move on after this.

I am hoping and praying for no Boba Fett or Ventress or Vader or Palpatine cameo cause this is the last episode of the Bad Batch show and it should ideally focus on. The Bad Batch. The show already has too many loose threads. No more cameos please.

As for whoever survives in the Batch, my ideal wish would just be for them to retire to Pabu under a new identity or something and live out their lives. After Tantiss is destroyed, there would be no clones left in captivity. They can finally rest then. It would be bittersweet to see the end of their adventures as they knew it, but it's at least a peaceful end.

Anyways, that's all for my theories I think! Whether I end up being right or not, I hope the finale is actually good 😭 and I hope whoever dies doesn't make me TOO sad, just that sweet spot of devastated but in a good way 😭😭😭

I'll be reblogging this after I watch the finale with updates on whether my predictions were true or not, probably with a thank you post to the show, so I suppose this is it.

See you all on the other side, TBB nation!

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Shuichi? I'm glad to see you finally giving Shirogane what she deserves, but I don't think I feel good about it, I don't know why, I'm supposed to be smiling about it, I'm supposed to be excited, to be happy, but I'm not! No matter how hard I try, I can't force myself to be happy about it

*sigh*

Ok...You will sit, and you will LISTEN...!

I get that you guys don't approve of me sparing her life like this. I understand you may think it's stupid, and gives way to much more chaos and death. After all, leaving Tsumugi alive invites only more chaos, right? That's what you think?

But I demand that you all just sit and think about it for a second...What DOES killing Shirogane even achieve in the end?

She'll go. That doesn't mean Zetsubou will! Even if their head is cut off, that's not going to destroy the work they've put in so far. Someone else will rise to the cause and fill the gap that she left, just like Shirogane herself did for Junko Enoshima...!

These Despairs...they're like seagulls who keep coming back for more food after getting a tiny nibble of your sandwich...! And simply killing them isn't going to FIX any of this! The world already got destroyed! Enoshima's death didn't fix that! TWO more Killing Games happened post-Enoshima because of her followers, and FIFTY-FREAKING-THREE happened in ours!

If you think that this is all part of a plan to get Shirogane to give up on her pointless dreams and seek redemption for her crimes...Pah...We all know that's not how she does things. The only reason I spared her is because her empire is falling around her, and now she's stuck being a blank-slate of a person, with no original ideas or schemes left to throw at us, knowing that taking our lives like she swears to, it won't take it all back, like I just said! For her? That's a fate WORSE than death!

Woah, hey, Shuichi...! Y-You ok?

And another thing!? Look at Enoshima! Look at Otonokoji! These Despair types defy death as a concept anyway! Let's say I DO kill Shirogane! How long do you think it'll be before she comes RIGHT THE FUCK BACK AGAIN to make us all EVEN MORE MISERABLE!?

The only thing that gets achieves if I decide to bite the bullet and take Shirogane's life is that...I become a murderer. And what's stopping me from running with that idea and slaughtering every bad guy I come across, even for petty reasons!? From becoming KURIPA!?

I would become the exact person that my real world self desired to become. When he signed up for all of this...this BULLSHIT! A sadistic murderous detective with a plan to kill everybody around him in an ingenious way...!

Shuichi, hold on-!

And you want to know what the most screwed up part of all of this is!? You guys want me to kill Shirogane because that's what YOU want! You want ME! The CHARACTER that you are watching, to enact justice! To side with Hope and destroy Despair! Sounds familiar, right? You know, that very idea that kept Danganronpa going a crapton of years!?

I am NOT going to give ANY fan of Danganronpa the SATISFACTION of watching me become a killer! Not my old self, not Shirogane, and NOT YOU! So hate me all you want for defying the expectations you set for me as a character! I am NOT your ENTERTAINMENT, DAMMIT!

SHUICHI!

...!?

I...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry I...I'm just so...sick...and tired of all of this...I stopped someone from dying...and yet inside, I feel like I murdered countless others...Do you know how hard it is to justify your own actions to a bunch of faceless, merciless members of an ask blog, who WANT your enemies to be slaughtered!?

...

Shuichi...I got a question for ya...Do you consider the real Ryoma Hoshi to be who I am now, or the person I was before all this happened?

...The Ryoma in front of me is the real one, of course.

Well, you should know this Ryoma killed a whole bunch of people out or rage and vengeance. And he lived every day of his life after regretting it, even when he got a second chance to live as a free man.

...You made the right choice. I guarantee you that.

If Shirogane DOES somehow come back to terrorize us again, all she'll be doing is coming back for another beating! Right?

...Yeah...Listen...I love you SO much...Don't EVER think of yourself as anything less than one of the greatest people that exists in this world...You don't deserve to go through this stress...

*Kaede gently presses her forehead against Shuichi's, embracing him warmly as tears stream down both their faces.

I love you too...I love all of you...I don't deserve any of your kindness...

*Everyone except Kokichi and Nico huddle around Shuichi for a hug.

[toxictrannyfreak]

Please go into more detail about the Fulcrum Barriss thing.

Oh, anon, I have been waiting for this. You're going to get way more than you wanted.

Basically, my idea for Fulcrum!Barriss came from 2 things: 1, I really don't like Ahsoka in Rebels. She kinda sucks there tbh. One of Rebel's main themes is that of redemption, of finding your way back to the right path and helping, and Ahsoka doesn't really fit. She could fit, if they'd done things different and had her and Kanan have parallel character arcs where they both help each other find the Jedi path again, but instead she's a very flat character that never does anything that interesting. Sure, she's supposedly organizing the Rebellion from the shadows, but the only time she's ever significant in her own right in Rebels is when she's beating people up. She's presented as kind of a perfect Light Side saint kind of thing (think of the Gandalf-looking outfit she has in the endcard, and the exhausting amounts of Morai and Daughter imagery we get with her, without them ever once acknowledging that she was possessed by the Son) which really gives us nothing to go with the whole redemption theme. It's boring. There are some good things--I love most of Twilight of the Apprentice, for example, but it's pretty clear that the whole Vader and Ahsoka thing shouldn't have been in Rebels, since it has almost no connection to the actual main characters and the plot.

The second thing was that I wanted to explore Barriss's character post-Order 66 in a way that is respectful to her actual character while still mostly canon-compliant (Because while I hate the Wrong Jedi Arc for what it did to Barriss and fully believe that it never should have happened, a story following Barriss with everything in the Wrong Jedi staying the same is really interesting) and, well, obviously having Barriss be a rebel makes sense (do not talk to me about Inquisitor!Barriss, I hate it). Barriss also has a ton that she feels she has to atone for with the context of the Wrong Jedi Arc, and, as a young Jedi who did Fall a little bit, she can offer a lot to Ezra as a teacher, like helping him understand why he can't use the Dark Side to stop The Empire.

tl;dr: Ahsoka's boring in Rebels, and she really shouldn't have been there anyway, but Barriss is fascinating post-TCW and, as a former Jedi who was briefly taken in by the Dark Side and betrayed the Order, is pretty damn perfect with the themes of Rebels, and had a very unique perspective that would've been really valuable for Ezra's arc.

Rant over, @antianakin has some very good post on Ahsoka if you want to check that out, on to the next rant!

Barriss works as Fulcrum, too. In The Wrong Jedi (I hate it, but like, I am using Canon here, I know it's terrible and character assassination for the sake of shock value and racism), we see how skilled she can be at subterfuge and lying and hiding in plain sight. She's very good at knowing exactly how to manipulate Ahsoka into making herself look as guilty as possible while keeping herself very innocent-looking. I could definitely see a fully grown Barriss with 15 years of experience using those skills to fight the Empire and direct a rebellion from the shadows.

Narratively, it makes a lot of sense for Barriss to work as a quiet director of rebel activity in the Outer Rim. She isn't a super-powerful Force user that can easily beat a bunch of Inquisitors (I'll talk about my problems with how weak the Inquisitors were later) and hold back Darth Vader. She needs to stay quiet, but she also needs to help, and working with those who have been the most disenfranchised and hurt by the Empire to bring it down serves as a good parallel to the Wrong Jedi Arc, where she was one of the most disenfranchised and hurt by the war (a teenage soldier whose people are dying around her, and no one in power cares) redirecting that in the wrong way, lashing out and hurting people, and now she's helping people react in a positive way and do things right.

Ahsoka, on the other hand (I'm assuming you came from the Fulcrum!Bariss and Inquisitor!Ahsoka post) is honestly a much more interesting character as an Inquisitor than she's really ever been in canon, and honestly, it’s confusingly well foreshadowed for something that never happens. In the Mortis Arc (aka the most symbolic arc of TCW that EXPLICITLY TELLS YOU THE FUTURE OF THE CHARACTERS), Ahsoka is very much associated with the Dark Side. She's kidnapped by the Son, she sees a vision (all of the other characters have visions that are pretty clearly true) of herself in the future, telling her that Anakin will corrupt her if she can't let go of him, and lo and behold, what is the 1 thing that Ahsoka is never able to do? LET GO OF ANAKIN. She is literally possessed by the embodiment of the Dark Side of the Force. 30 years later in The Mandalorian, Ahsoka is still unable to let go of Anakin even after he’s been dead for years, after she faced him and recognised him, after there’s nothing left of the Anakin she knew, she can only see Anakin in Grogu. She is haunted by Anakin, she is attached to Anakin, Anakin defines her. Think of how tragic that would be with Inquisitor Ahsoka, who was forced to the Dark Side, who was manipulated and tortured and abused (tbf TotJ kinda makes it seem that Anakin was already borderline abusive to Ahsoka). Imagine the amount of pain and anger and unresolved trauma in her, all inextricably tied to Anakin, to Vader, to her Master. She loves him in the same horrifying, twisted way that he loves her and that brings them both so much pain, plunging them deeper and deeper into that downward spiral.

And then there’s the relationship the two of them would have with each other--Barriss who fell first, but was given the support she needed to pull herself out (obviously Luminara and the Jedi helped her, come on, there’s no way that if she lived they wouldn’t have helped her and pushed for her to be given back to the Jedi) who was able to find the Light again and use her experiences to help other people and make amends, but especially the fact that Barriss Fell of her own accord. There were other factors, but no one forced Barriss to Fall. The Inquisitors were tortured and mutilated and abused until they became everything they hated, and then they were forced to serve the very people who murdered their people. None of that is voluntary, even if they’ve been manipulated into thinking that it was deserved, or for the best, or made them stronger. A Fallen Ahsoka confronting a redeemed Barriss, a horrible mirror image of what happened to them in the Wrong Jedi Arc so long ago. That’s powerful and painful and it works, it fits with the themes of Rebels really well, and it doesn’t mess with the power scaling the way Vader does.

Now allow me to elaborate on this au. So, Order 66 happens, and Barriss is in Republic prison, one that’s probably guarded and maintained by clones (she wouldn’t be an immediate target, ‘cause she’s not a Jedi, and she’s probably wanted for the Inquisitorius anyway). At this point, Ahsoka has separated from Rex and only knows of one Jedi in the entire galaxy that’s probably still alive--Barriss, who she knows won’t be an immediate target, Barriss, who, despite everything, is still her friend. Barriss who will die soon. Ahsoka goes back to Coruscant and breaks Barriss out of prison.

Except the Empire knew that someone would come for her, and after Jesse never reported back, they knew Ahsoka was out there. Barriss manages to escape, but Ahsoka doesn’t. (This is, like, the angstiest possible version of this au, I could also do a version where Barriss just escapes, but I like pain, so.) Barriss thinks they’d kill her—the Inquisitorius program won’t become official for months yet, not until the last of her people have been tortured into everything she once thought the Jedi had become—so she makes sure Ahsoka’s sacrifice isn’t in vain, and she runs. She hides out in the Outer Rim, and she makes Ahsoka proud.

She sees the pain and suffering and misery caused by the war and the Empire, and she is a Jedi. She cannot help what she is. She builds a rebellion, piece by piece and step by step, hidden in the shadows, agonizingly crawling towards something better. She wakes up every day, and she fights, building networks of people and information and hope. She fights to restore the Republic that failed her, and the Order she failed, and she hopes that one day it will be enough. Enough to finally be redeemed, enough to go to trial once more and face punishment for her crimes. (Death. It was always going to be death, but the Jedi managed to postpone her trial until after the war, but the war never ended. The war was to destroy the Republic, and she refuses to stop fighting for civilization. She hears about Ahsoka, eventually, and she sees it as just one more sin she must carry.)

And then she meets Ezra. He is young, and scared, and angry, but he is bright in the Force and he wants to become a Jedi more than anything. She has stayed in the shadows for so long, but this young, brilliant boy and his Master, a fellow Padawan that she remembers from so long ago, they need her, and she goes. She brings everything she has, all to save these last Jedi and being the galaxy some hope. They burn a Star Destroyer, and broadcast a message of hope. It’s finally coming together.

She teaches Ezra what she can, and she and Kanan cling to each other. They hadn’t thought there was anyone else left, all 10,000 lights snuffed out by Order 66 or the Inquisitorius save for them. They meditate and train and try to find their way back to the Jedi path, for the child they’re trying so hard to save.

Eventually, the Empire comes for them. Inquisitor Ahsoka Tano, Grand Inquisitor of the Imperial Order of the Inquisitorius (I had a lot of fun figuring out how many times I could fit Inquisitor in there), second only to Darth Vader, finds them on Malachor. She brings a bunch of other Inquisitors with her (and they’re actually, like threatening bad guys this time, come on) and they have a big fight (idk if I want to keep Maul here, bc well I do like him in Rebels, he's just another example of Filoni forcing in legacy characters where they don't fit) in, like, the middle of the episode Barriss and Ahsoka have a really really angsty 1v1 duel (everyone else is trying to fight normally while ignoring the bitter exes biting each other's heads off in the background). Darth Vader does not show up.

I haven't thought much past Season 2, to be honest, but I do have some vague ideas:

Kallus (who actually has a redemption arc, not 1 episode where they retcon everything about him) definitely has a very strained relationship with the Inquisitors bc he’s several gallons deep in the Empire-propaganda koolaid and he doesn’t trust force sensitives, he thinks that they take jobs away from the ISB, who could do the much better, and, while he’ll never admit it, he does have a moral compass and feels like sending highly trained super-evil Force wizards that can bring down entire buildings with their minds is a bit much for a teenage boy

For seasons 3 and 4 I’d want to do something with the Zare Leonis/Project Harvester plot they set up in season 1 and then like. Never mentioned again outside of a niche book series. Smth about what the Empire actually does to force-sensitive kids

No Thrawn. Fucking hate Thrawn in Rebels bc he is yet another example of Felony jamming in cameo characters where they don’t belong. Why was Thrawn, fucking Grand Admiral of the Empire, the guy that (in Legends bc he wasn’t in canon pre-Rebels) nearly manages to bring back the Empire and destroy the New Republic basically by himself, in the show about a small group of misfit rebels desperately trying to build the early Rebellion? Thrawn managed to nearly bring down the Rebellion at its peak, when it had already destroyed the damn Empire! (For that matter, why is Tarkin in Rebels? Why is Vader in Rebels? Why is Emperor goddamn Palpatine. in. Rebels??? There is a thing called power scaling, felony, and it is very important!)

Instead of Thrawn being the main villain of seasons 3-4 of Rebels, I’d have Inquisitor Ahsoka be the main villain of season 3 and her redemption arc would be parallel with Kallus’s (bc he actually has one here) and they’d both get out of the Empire in the Season 3 finale. The villain of Season 4 would be Pryce, and the focus would be on her and the Empire’s greed destroying Lothal, which I think would go really well with the Zare storyline of Project Harvester that I mentioned above. The show would end about the same as it does in canon, though idk exactly how Ezra would get into the Unknown Regions without Thrawn.

So this has turned from Fulcrum Barriss into a full on rewrite of everything I didn’t like about Rebels, huh? Sorry anon, I warned you.

[girl4music]

*Doc throws his knife into a dart board. A bullseye*

DOLLS:

*whistles*

“That new demon's a nasty piece of work. We're regrouping at BBD in an hour. You were late to the party last night.”

DOC: “Yep.”

DOLLS: “Wanna talk about it?”

DOC: “Nope.”

DOLLS: “OK... So it's not baby Alice?”

DOC:

*retrieves his knife from the dart board*

“No, she is safe. That is all I can ask for. No, I am angry because the fight has been fixed.”

DOLLS: “What fight?”

DOC:

*gets up in his face*

“The fight. Between the living and the dying. When the Iron Witch made her wish and made Wynonna pop, disappear... you and me, we were enemies. You killed me. And I died.”

DOLLS: “Remind me who shot first.”

DOC: “Dolls... I went to hell. The same place Wynonna sends her demons. That is my reward... for all this?”

DOLLS: “You know, listen, you got time.”

DOC: “Time for what? To replace my bad deeds with good ones? No, that is the rub, Dolls. That is what they do not tell you about turning the hero. It turns you into a killer, too. So you face it, Xavier. We are murderers, you and I. Destined for the dark.”

DOLLS:

*makes eye contact, says calmly but sternly*

“We're not the same. ‘Cause I don't need a threat of damnation to fight for the right side.

*walks away, turns back to him*

We're gonna be alright.”

Some powerful dialogue here between these two characters. Especially considering what happens to Dolls. He knows what his endgame is and he isn’t afraid in the slightest regardless of where he ends up. But what Doc says about how whether you’re the hero or villain - you’re still made into a killer. A murderer. That cannot be overlooked because it is very true.

I love that this show and its writers refuse to play good VS evil, peace VS war, right VS wrong, love VS hate, black VS white, light VS dark. Refuse to play duality.

They keep the GREY approach all throughout. They don’t contradict themselves for even one second. What they’re teaching is much more the truth than the classic fairytales and legends would have you believe.

That it’s either one or the other. It isn’t. It is BOTH. And that anyone can be both simultaneously and it does not damn them. It does not break or ruin their character. It does not make them better or worse.

And if they should fall like Lucifer fell and end up in hell. Well, that’s just the way it is. It shouldn’t stop them from trying to do good or trying to be good.

So Dolls is right. It doesn’t matter about the destination or the outcome. The result of your deeds. You do good now and you are good regardless of what evil that you have done. It isn’t a case of whether you have a soul or not or whether you are a demon or not.

It’s a case that you choose to do what you do now. How you’re treated for it either now or later isn’t something you can control. So it isn’t something that you should concern yourself with. Just do good now because that’s all that matters when nothing matters.

Give up trying to search for a redemption or a reward because if you truly want to do good,… then you do it.

Because even the Garden of Eden itself is treacherous.

R.I.P. Deputy Marshall Xavier Dolls.

And thank you.

[thyandrawrites]

Do you think Endeavor will die trying to save Touya or helping Shoto save him? It makes sense for his character being afraid of dying like his father did to only end up the same way and Endeavor being dead also would bring peace to Touya and release him from his obsession on Endeavor. What do you think the ending will be for the Todoroki family? I just want Touya to be happy and not love that awful person that is a failure of a father anymore because loving Endeavor is only poison imo

My feelings about this aside, I see Enji surviving the manga and stepping in as a father only in the aftermaths of this war.

I don't think that the trope of redemption through death works to address Enji's remaining loose ends, because I don't think it's compatible with the resolution that Touya's arc needs.

Touya needs distance from his father to finally explore who he really is, true, but he also needs closure with his dad.

So far, the set up is that Shouto and Enji will have to work together to save Touya:

But the thing is, Enji is not yet written as someone who's ready to do his part. In fact, he kept avoiding Touya in the war itself, enough so that Touya had to chase him down to get that closure.

This tells us that Enji isn't yet in a mindframe where he can contemplate Touya's needs, let alone act on them, act in his son's best interest. Endvr entered this second war with the mentality of a hero.

He's still thinking in terms of how many heinous crimes Touya committed, and thinking of him in abstract terms. Here you can see it most clearly: the mention of Touya doesn't bring up memories of a family member, or even of a person; he's depersonalized into a receipient of Enji's regrets and inadequacies as a number one. When Enji thinks of him, he doesn't see the boy he wanted to have survived the Sekoto blaze, he sees the crimes Endvr should've been able to prevent.

This mindset won't change simply because Touya now appeared before him, demanding his attention. If anything, I see this making Enji feel backed into a corner, pushed to make a choice when he's not yet ready to acknowledge Touya's humanity.

My current prediction is that Enji will fail to acknowledge Touya as Touya, and only face Dabi the villain, until Shouto realizes why this approach won't work and lead the way for a change of pace. So far, neither Enji not Shouto have been successful in "stopping Dabi", and that's precisely because they're stuck approaching him as the family's black sheep, the sum of Enji's mistakes, the consequence of Enji's stubbornness. They need to think of Touya as a person and as a victim first, or their approach will keep failing. What makes Touya a villain is the fact that he felt shunned and abandoned by his kin. If Enji died before he could correct that and show Touya a real change, then I don't think Touya's arc would reach its necessary closure. Touya would simply lose his purpose once again.

But the thing is, Enji's not yet into a place where he can help Shouto save Touya, either, because Enji and Shouto approach him with completely different attitudes. Shouto sees someone he can relate to ("he is me") and someone who is family ("Touya-nii"), so even if he currently doesn't understand Touya's methods and is stuck perpetrating the scapegoating, he does have the set up to eventually sympathize enough to reach a common ground with him. Enji, however, not only still sees Touya as someone to defeat ("a mass murderer" "I cannot fight him"), but also as an abstract evil who is inhabiting the body of who was once his son ("my mistakes took form as Touya and stole so many futures").

So I think Enji will realize why resorting to his hero persona to solve problems won't work only when he sees Shouto approaching Touya as his brother. Then, and only after that, I can see him realistically step up as a father and finally give Touya the closure he needs, acknowledging him as a dad who loves his son, and not a hero who captures a villain. Right now, Enji's too stubbornly focused on soothing his guilt with a work success to begin to acknowledge the needs of others. Hence, death wouldn't accomplish anything. What he needs is growth, and since he's so resistant to it, resistant to admitting his flaws, the only way I can see him growing is if he clings to his methods and fails first, and is then shown a better way by the only son he ever paid attention to, and finally eat his pride and follow in his example. I think Enji needs to acknowledge that he never contemplated a scenario where he could mend things without violence,

And frankly, I think that would be a nice way to make amends to Shouto, too, but this time for real.

Two birds with one stone.

[helenarasmussen87]

BNHA 426

Under a cut cause spoilers

I admit that I really fell off doing commentaries for BNHA/MHA for awhile mostly because I didn't want to grieve over any characters that I loved dying. But hey, they survived and I also was waiting for Endeavor and the Dabi fall out as well as Hawks, since they were messed up to tell last time we saw them.

I was satisfied with the chapter despite a few things lacking. Namely how Shoto's inner thoughts about his brother and his family being split apart were never explicitly stated on the page. Why Rei was with Enji and Fuyumi also. But for the rest, well, it was something I was expecting, to be honest.

I was never a big fan of Dabi so him dying was sort of the expected outcome due to how his inexorable hatred of his father was. He wasn't looking for redemption nor did he want it. He just wanted to watch the world burn and take his father down with him.

He knew this so him surviving would have been the complete man wtf twist of this situation. Endeavor retiring and being disabled because of what happened was actually in my bingo book. Him punishing himself for what happened to Dabi and him staying with his son until he dies is perfectly in line with what he's chosen to do with the rest of his life.

He doesn't need to be Endeavor any longer. Touya was stopped.

And while I never have negated Endeavor was a bastard to his children and caused many of his own problems...Touya *chose* to be Dabi. He *chose* to be the villain and the killer and even used his past to try and manipulate people into feeling sorry for him.

Having a shitty past isn't an excuse to lash out and hurt others and he was a prime example of that. Endeavor was shitty. He was abusive and a terrible father, but he owned it and took steps to change his behaviour and his situation. He respected his children's boundaries and is prepared to be alone and live with his mistakes.

Dabi never did and basically went on and on as to how he was wronged and went out to hurt and damage people. Yet Endeavor was the one seen as the horrific and awful asshole. Even though he saw his errors and acted accordingly.

This is what I like about Endeavor. That he apologised and owned his mistakes. Not very many abusers in real life and fiction do.

I don't think his reputation will be completely in tatters. Not when Hawks is now the president of the Commission (Honestly a good move, since he doesn't have a quirk any longer, but he knows the system enough to renovate it and make it work in a different way) and not when he's out of the public eye for awhile. Especially not when he's shown doing his best to atone and seek redemption on his own terms.

I just hope Rei doesn't stick by him as a caretaker. She deserves to be free to build her own life. Same with Fuyumi and Shoto. Natsuo is setting out on his own without contact and that is what he definitely needs and it's good he is getting the chance to do so.

And I also suspect that Hawks will be there to help since he has been with them through everything. I do believe he loves Enji Todoroki that much to see the best in him.

Was it a great ending? It was the best that could have been, to be honest. The family wasn't going to end on a good note. This is the best that could be hoped for all of them.

I would be curious to see how they are in a few years after everything has settled down and things are stable.

It works for me cause I never expected a full happy ending for them.

I just wish Shoto could have gotten some kind of meaningful conversation other than discovering he and Dabi like soba.

[risingsouls]

[Wowee that's a lot. I'm flattered you're cool with sending this to me, though! I love seeing people's takes and discussing this kind of thing so I'm flattered.

I'm going to try to address all of this, and I'm going to start from the bottom and go up.

To start, yeah. The Buu saga in general is a mess. I like it okay, and would rather watch the Buu saga a million times in a row than sit through Super, but yeah. It's definitely not well done. Somehow, it is both rushed and moves too slowly and I agree that it's really lame that this looked like it was going to be the passing of the torch to either Vegeta and Piccolo or the younger generation with Gohan. Goten, and Trunks. However, instead out time gets wasted in Gohan getting his mystic form and Gotenks becoming a thing just for both of them to end up failing miserably and for Goku to have to clean up the mess as usual. Considering this was supposed to be the end of the series, I don't really understand why they went this route, but it never really worked for me either.

As you mentioned, even Vegeta and Piccolo were shafted in this Saga when it would have been nice to see one them protect the planet. I mean...they tried to make it seem like Vegeta came to care about saving the planet, so why not let him do it? Even at the end, it's Hercule that convinces the Earthlings to give energy, not Vegeta, so what the hell was the point (I have a lot of thoughts on Vegeta's "redemption" in that it's not one and his real "redemption" comes at the end of the saga, not when he blows himself up)?

Now, to focus on Gohan specifically from the end of the Cell Saga to the Buu Saga. I agree with some of what you said and other things I don't necessarily. I'll start with what I agree with: trauma. Toriyama not addressing trauma isn't a problem with just Gohan, though. Arguably, every character in this series is likely traumatized to some degree, whether it's just from dealing with being part of Earth's special forces and dying in the fight or seeing and experiencing horrific things. Another BIG example that the writers should have reckoned more with in the realm of trauma was Vegeta. Man was enslaved for a good portion of his life. Likely tortured at least mentally if not physically. But all of that gets swept under the rug, and it absolutely happens with Gohan throughout the series too. I wish there was more exploration of all of this as well, but I guess that's why people like me and other rpers are here.

That said, I propose another view of why Gohan took up the mantle of the Great Saiyaman: he has a hero complex. He saved the world. He was the only one that could beat Cell. He didn't believe his dad at first and thought Goku would be the one to do it as he always did. But that's not what happened. And then Goku died, and while Goku wasn't in the business of playing Superman, I think this did instill a complex in Gohan to feel like if he doesn't do it, if he doesn't help and save people, no one will. And once he gets to the city and sees the bank robbery up close and stops it, that sort of really takes hold in him. Yeah, maybe he wouldn't go with the costume if he could keep his identity secret with just SS, but he couldn't. And it makes sense he wouldn't want his classmates to view him as anything but average when he wouldn't even take due credit for killing Cell.

But yeah, I honestly can see Gohan doing this. He's always been willing and ready to jump in and help people. We see it against the Saiyans once he gets over his fear. We see it on Namek, and how he wants to help with the androids. He is shown saving people who cannot defend themselves quite a bit considering, so I don't think it's out of line for him to take on that role with that in mind along with me seeing a hero complex arising in him.

Does it feel out of place when you consider that this kid would be traumatized? Of course. And I wish we got to see more of him and his family grieving. Goten growing up only hearing stories about his father (what they do with this is actually pretty good I think; subtle in how Goten has put his dad on a pedestal thanks to Gohan and probably Chi Chi to some degree only to see him not be able to take care of the monster after all, but I like how they handle Goten and Goku meeting). I wish we got more of how Gohan's and everyone else's trauma affected them (I guess we get a little with Yamcha? But that's another convo probably). But, like I said, unfortunately they didn't want to write that. Which is lame.

But yeah. It sucks that after this we get a stagnation of characters in Super. Nobody grows or changes because they gave them no room to do so. Even Goten and Trunks haven't changed and they're meant to be growing up (Goten maybe seems a bit more mature from bits in the manga but it's debatable). Goku regresses, many would argue Vegeta is better, but he's also just been stagnant since the narrative they decided to hammer home was family man instead of him coming to terms with Goku being better than him and FINALLY dropping that old grudge so he CAN grow and become his own man. They've made the same joke about Gohan not training three times in Super, even though his failures against both Cell and Buu likely SHOULD have convinced him to at least try to keep up with his training AND his studies imo. But instead, because they want their funny hahas, they have him stagnate as well. Hell, they even make him the leader of U7 but that basically doesn't matter because, outside of a few blips, it's the Goku and Vegeta show (along with Frieza ew). Videl gets the DB Woman Treatment, arguably, like you mentioned in the Buu Saga (unless you count the last few movies). Piccolo is almost nonexistent in Super until the ToP. Bulma has regressed so much I hate everything when I think about it. Tien is basically forgotten until the ToP. Yamcha is just a joke flat out. I could go on and on but I think you get it.

So, to end before I really start rambling more, the Buu saga could have been really great and handled so much better. However, the thing is, this was meant to be the end. Even though I don't agree with a lot of what they did, they were just trying to wrap it up and call it good. And that shows. That aside, it was just a mess in general with a ton of pacing issues and just general, "but why" feels. I like it in its own way but it is very flawed as you've said.]

[chocobothis]

With a busted theory and dislike for writing for things as they're currently airing, I'm back harder on my "Barriss gets her nuanced character exploration while working toward accepting her own redemption is possible" Shit.

Is this partially because I want to write Alijah and Barriss Banter? Absolutely.

It'd be so easy to give them a little series of vaguely related ficlets. The two of them (plus rotating extras) fighting against the Galaxy. But, also healing and reforging their connection to the Force and each other. It's not like being initiates or padawans anymore. That ship has sailed, burnt, and sank. Still there's little bits where they once got along and get along again.

Barriss' fighting style seemed to be strongest when she was someone else. It's something with saw with Luminara when fighting with Barriss; she was lacking. Alijah's excellent at saber work. Retraining with her works well and they're together.

Alijah's connection with the Force is still painful. She feels so much with and because of it. Her talents are focused around healing, mind things, and the basics. She gets a tiny bit of Force Visions but they're not useful? There's small snippets with no context. Barriss gives me the impression she's well connected with the Force. Even with it being a broken bond she help.

(Also, having to fight Inquisitior!Barriss is literally what pulled Alijah back to using a lightsaber and the Force.)

There's comparing and contrasting them with each other and then with Ahsoka. All three of them had shifting relationships with the Jedi Order. But, Ahsoka's relationship to the Force stayed positive. Barriss' soured to the point of darkness and Alijah spent years ignoring it entirely. Using the Force saved nothing. Ahsoka also moved quickly into the Rebellion. Alijah avoided it and Barriss...well Barriss sure did pick things.

I also have a detailed ultimately, Dark Side Cult Alijah was born into and grew up around until 6. When she looks at Barriss she sees what she could have been if no one saved her. It makes her want save Barriss more. No, she doesn't have trauma at all about feeling like she failed Depa, Caleb, and the Order by surviving. She knows what it's like to look in the mirror and feel like the worst parts of yourself are looking back to mock you. People have told her that her Force Sensitivity/Jedi Potential made her a corrupted villain by being. Frankly, helping Barriss learn to care for herself and reintegrate into existing helps her do the same.

I haven't fully sorted out why Barriss did what she did. Part of what I think happened does involve the Shitty Sith Vibes Sidious was leeching into the air. The fact she tried to fame Ahsoka is also suspicious to me. She had complete anonymity and could've had anyone but it was Ahsoka. Someone Anakin Skywalker cares deeply about to dangerous extremes. (And it was Ventress she stole sabers from.) It feels like it could've been subtle suggestions via the Force that got pushed to her by Sidious. They preyed on the doubts she had about the Order because of the war. Also the sheer amount of trauma she experienced during said war. She lashes out, freaks out because she lashed out, and it sprails. The deeper she gets the more she tells herself there's no going back. If she stops now it'll be for nothing.

(I also find "Dying Equals Redemption" to be bland. You fucked up, no matter how well intended or not, so you can actively work to unfuck it.)

I'm admittedly not fond that that's the story line they picked for Barriss. I think it was both weak and sus af. It was also quickly tossed aside with no information or conclusion. But, I do have a writer's hubris with a deep love for Star Wars; so, I want to make it make some sense.

We also get Reunion Scenes with Barriss and Ahsoka because they deserve this.

[linkspooky]

Quick question about Jean Grey, what is your final opinion about her death? It is interesting that even when she became consumed by his power in the end she decided to sacrifice herself and die as a human.

So fun fact, at the time whether or not Jean Grey would live was up in the air while the arc was ongoing until the end of the arc. The killing of Jean Grey wasn't Claremont's idea either, but rather their editor Jim Shooter forced them to do it.

Redemption by Death works sometimes, depending on the situation. It works for Darth Vader, but it did not work for Kylo Ren. My general rule of thumb before whether or not a redemptive death even qualifies as redemption is this: is there any more story to tell with this character alive? Character deaths can add to a story, because death is something we all have to deal with in real life so it's sometimes cathartic to fiction to see fictional characters grieving as well. Death can also cut off a potentially interesting character from developing or getting a chance to shine.

I love Gwen Stacy but her character death isn't really a women in refrigerator's moment because her death adds to the story. Peter is reminded for the first time since Uncle Ben that he can make mistakes and fail to save people if he gets arrogant. The story has stakes because Peter is no longer an infallible hero. There's a consequence for Peter's decision not to tell Gwen of his identity. He dragged her into danger then never informed her what that danger was.

There is another version of the editorial dispute story where the original plan was for Jean to get psychically lobotomized then handed back into custody of the X-Men, and honestly I would prefer her making the choice to die on her own terms to this because the Dark Phoenix came about because Jean denied her own agency for so long. Literally lobotomizing her and ripping her agency away from her would be a terrible way to resolve it.

Jean Grey dying at least once also makes thematic sense, like it's called the Dark PHOENIX Saga. Phoenixes are known for dying and being reborn from the ashes. There is a place for tragedy and characters dying on their own terms in storytelling, especially since this is a story primarily about a woman losing controlling of her agency.

There's the aspect of Jean destroying entire alien star systems which is just kind of a silly thing to include in the first place. I don't think people's brains can calculate the loss of billions of lives. If they wanted to make Dark Phoenix commit a heinous act there was no coming back from they should have had her destroy a city, or named characters or something, that would make the debate on whether or not it's just to keep her alive more relatable. Especially if Jean Grey may lose control again.

There are two characters I can think of with body counts up in the thousands who receive full redemption arcs. The first is Accelerator who slaughtered 10,000 clones who all had individuality and could feel pain as they died. When he was stopped instead of continuing to live on as a villain, or dying to atone he made the choice to say to hell with forgiveness or whether or not he even deserved redemption he was going to devote himself to protecting the rest of the clones that remained. Harley Quinn in the Injustice Au helps blow up metropolis and then changes sides immediately after Superman kills the Joker. Primarily because she does not want to die. However, she does from that point on devote herself to good, becomes one of the key members of the resistance, and tries even to talk members of the regime out of their bad behavior and support of superman because she's been there. They are characters with high body counts that have done unforgivable things who just make the decision to atone anyway even if their atonement cannot equal the crimes they've committed.

If they'd never done the "Jean commits genocide on other planets" aspect of Dark Phoenix and had her blow up a city or something instead, then her atoning definitely would have been possible and also the more interesting route because she's also given people around the world even more reason to distrust the X-men for the way she used her powers. It makes the story more complicated and adds conflict between her and the rest of the team. You could have done it just by tweaking the storyline a little bit. Also, hindsight being twenty twenty, the fact that they revived Jean anyway, killed her again, revived her, killed her again and that whole cycle would probably have been averted had she lived.